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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Action/Adventure Warnings: Disturbing Imagery Story is Complete Rating: PG Reviews: 160 Summary: Dumbledore is dead. Harry ran away from the Dursley's before getting his Hogwarts letter. Who will save the magical world now? Hitcount: Story Total: 85547; Chapter Total: 5110 Awards: View Trophy Room |
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Ginny had planned to do her Astronomy essay tonight, but with Tom's help she had been able to write it the night before. Although she didn't use Tom's words, she did rely on his research. She doubted that there had been any new books or articles on the Orion constellation published since Tom had been a student at Hogwarts, so the books and papers he read should be sufficient. So she was free after dinner to go to the second-floor girl's bathroom. Grabbing the broom that she had left under an Invisiblity Charm in the bathroom after her last visit, she opened the Chamber and swooped down the tube, listening to the Chamber entrance grind closed behind her. Once she arrived in the main Chamber, she called for Bassie, who slithered through the opening behind the statue of Salazar Slytherin. "Bassie, don't you get hungry down here?" she asked in Parseltongue. "I eat rats and mice," hissed Bassie. "It takes a lot to keep me full, but I won't die of hunger." "How would you like something bigger?" suggested Ginny. "We can go to the Forbidden Forest; I bet you can find a nice deer or something that would fill you up for weeks." "That would be wonderful," said Bassie. "I haven't left this Chamber in a long time." "I'm going to use the Reducio spell to make you small enough for me to carry you. Then we'll fly out to the forest and I'll enlarge you again. Please don't eat any unicorns or sentient creatures such as centaurs. But we should be able to find you something else good to eat." After Reducioing Bassie, the snake wound herself around Ginny's arm. Then Ginny jumped on the broom and flew up the tube, hissing the "open" command as she approached the entrance. Once in the bathroom, the made herself invisible and walked to the Hogwarts front entrance. Quietly going out the door, she jumped on the broom and flew to the edge of the forest, casting a warming spell to ward off the December chill. She knew the forest was supposed to be a dangerous place, but with Bassie by her side, she felt perfectly safe. Once under the cover of trees, she enlarged Bassie and the snake slithered off with Ginny quietly following on her broom. After an hour of exploring the forest, their efforts were rewarded when Bassie spotted a wild boar digging for roots and insects. Bassie crept up on it slowly, and before it knew she was there, she was able to strike suddenly with her fangs, killing it almost instantly. She then dislocated her jaws and swallowed it whole. Although she was much bigger than the boar, a small lump was visible in her body where the boar was passing through. "That was excellent," she said. "Thank you for permitting me to hunt, Mistress Ginny." "Please, just call me Ginny. I'd like to think we are friends." As she said it in Parseltongue, Ginny noticed that the word "friends" translated into something closer to "littermates." "I've never had a friend before. What do friends do?" "Well, for one thing, they hunt and eat together." "Then I would like to be your friend." Bassie moved a little slower now that she was carrying the extra weight of the boar, so Ginny descended and walked beside her. "So, you've never met another Basalisk?" "I had a mate once," said Bassie, "but he went away with Salazar Slytherin many years ago." Ginny noticed that the word Bassie used for "mate" sounded something like "littermates" but translated closer to "spouse." Whether it was the noise from Ginny's walking or something else, their passage was somehow noticed and suddenly they were confronted by large creatures with bodies of horses and trunks of men--men who were holding bows and arrows aimed at Bassie. The snake hissed loudly and Ginnie immediately dashed in front to stand between the snake and at least some of the arrows. "Hold your fire!" ordered Ginny. "This forest is dangerous for younglings such as yourself," said one of the centaurs. "Do you not know what this dark creature is with you?" "Bassie is not a dark creature; she is my friend. And I did not feel in any danger until you pointed an arrow at me!" "This friend, as you call it, could petrify or kill you with a glance." "My friend has taken a vow to never harm another sentient being except in self defense," promised Ginny. "She may hunt deer and boar in these woods from time to time, and if you leave her be she will do you no harm." Some of the centaurs lowered their bows. "We will leave her be if she leaves us unharmed," said the centaur. "But be warned: not everything in these woods is as tolerant of others hunting in territories they regard as their own. Orion is very bright tonight." "I think we can take care of ourselves," said Ginny, not knowing what to make of the last thing the centaur said. She curtseyed to the leader. "With your permission, we will take our leave of these woods." The centaurs parted and they continued to the edge of the woods, where Ginny Reducioed Bassie (complete with the lump that used to be a wild boar). Once inside the castle, she headed for the second floor bathroom, but was intercepted by Flint and Nott. "This is the firstie who has been teaching other Slytherin girls to resist tradition," said Nott. "Then I think it's time to teach her the meaning of the rule," said Flint; "boys do what they want, girls do what they're told." "I think it's time to teach you that traditions change," said Ginny. "Engorgio!" * * * * * Although Harry could call animals to him whenever he was hungry, sometimes he enjoyed practicing with his bow and arrow. Part of the enjoyment was being able to run with Nephele, who unlike her father was much more interested in hunting than in gathering plants or brewing potions. Nephele was the first friend he ever had who was approximately his own age. Actually, she was much younger than him as centaurs matured much faster than humans, but both were regarded among the troop as teenagers. Although Harry's skill as an archer was increasing, Harry himself never killed any animal that was running from him as he hadn't had the opportunity to offer what the goblins called the Druid's prayer. But he would rejoice with Nephele when she made a kill and help her to trim it out and carry it home. * * * * * After most of the students boarded the Hogwarts Express to go home for Christmas, the teachers gathered together in the Headmaster's office for a faculty and staff meeting. Two more students had been petrified early in the month, bringing the total to four. "Are we certain there is no other source of Mandrake root?" asked Flitwick. "Yes, I've enquired with magical apothecaries and nurseries throughout Britain, and none of them have any mature roots," said Professor Sprout. "We are fortunate that there have been no deaths, only petrifications," said Flitwick. "Otherwise, there would probably be calls to close the school." "Isn't it peculiar," said Professor Snape, "that the only students petrified by the so-called heir of Slytherin are other Slytherins? What kind of a message is this person or monster trying to send?" Flitwick looked at the list: Flint, Nott, Crabb, Goyle. "Not just Slytherins," he said. "If I am not mistaken, all of these students are also children of people who were accused of being Death Eaters in the last war." Snape bristled. "That could be just a coincidence. We know there were Death Eaters in other houses too." "Yes, but no children of Sirius Black are enrolled at the present time," said Flitwick with a slight smile. "I understand your desire to protect your house, but we must be open to all possibilities. "Turning to other business," he continued when no one said anything, "who were some of the outstanding first years this term?" "Miss Ginevra Weasley started out slow in my class," said Clarinda Perspicacity, the Charms professor, "but by the middle of October she was consistently the first one to learn every spell." "I had the same experience," said Professor Flamel. "At first I thought she was practically a Squib, but by the end of the term she seemed equal to any second year and even some third years." "Yes, Miss Weasley has also become an excellent essayist," said Snape. "In her first papers, it seemed she hardly knew how to write, but by December her work was easily the match of Miss Granger in her first year." "There's a Weasley girl in Hogwarts?" asked Madam Pince. "Does she have red hair like the other Weasleys? That's strange, because I've never seen her in the library." "Is it possible you might have missed her?" "That Weasley hair is unmistakable," said Pince. "I assume this Weasley is in Gryffindor like all of the rest?" "No," said Snape with a hint of pride, "she's in Slytherin." "Never seen her," said Pince decisively. "That's peculiar," observed Flamel. "Her essays have extraordinary detail. How could a first-year write such excellent essays without doing research in the library?" "We'll have to watch for signs of cheating," said Flitwick. "But remember, Miss Weasley must be considered innocent until proven guilty." At the beginning of the second week of the new term, Professor Perspicacity asked Ginny to stay after class. "Yes, professor?" Ginny asked after everyone else had left. "You wrote an excellent essay on the ten uses of the Scourgify charm," said Perspicacity. "Thank you, professor." "I notice that your essay refers to 27 unique books and other references." "Yes, professor, I wanted to be complete." "Where did you find these books?" "Why, in the library, of course." "The library is right down the hall. Will you show me where you found Buchanan's Scourgification through the Ages?" "Of course, professor," said Ginny as they headed out the door, "but why?" "Just show me." Ginny blinked. She had been to the library many times in Riddle's memories, but never on her own. She hoped the books hadn't been moved around too much since Riddle had been at Hogwarts. She was surprised to find Professor Snape and a pinch-faced woman with dark brown hair in the library staring at her as she and Professor Perspicacity walked in the door. She gave it little thought but headed for what she remembered was the household charms section. The Scourify books were on a different shelf than she remembered, but in the same aisle, and it took only a moment to find the book Professor Perspicacity had requested. "Here you go, professor," she said, handing the book over. "Thank you, Miss Weasley," said the professor, who then set the book on a reshelving table and turned and left the room. Ginny walked over to her head of house. "What that was about?" she said aloud. "Miss Weasley," said Snape, "have you met Madam Pince?" "No, I haven't. It is nice to meet you." "Miss Weasley, here is your latest essay for potions. Like your other work, it is excellent. But some people have wondered how you have done such detailed research without ever being seen in the library." "I guess I just fly under the radar." "What?" "It's a Muggle term my father uses. I think it means keeping low so you won't be seen." She reached for the essay, but Snape held it high as he dramatically pulled his wand from his robe. As he pointed the wand at her essay, she caught a glimpse of a tattoo on his arm. "Plagiarius revelio." Nothing happened. "If it had glowed red, you would have been expelled for plagiarism," he said, glaring at her. "Then it is a good thing it didn't glow red," she said. "I assigned this essay to you a week ago. You cite 41 unique sources, including three that were moved to the restricted section of the library in November. How did you find them if they were in the restricted section?" Ginny's eyes flicked over to where she knew the restricted section was located. "Perhaps I read them before they were moved and kept good notes." He stared at her as if he were trying to read her mind. "That's a very Slytherin answer," he said. "Thank you, professor. May I go now?" "Yes. But Madam Pince had better see you next time you do research for your essays." "Yes, professor." Later in January, Ginny was eating dinner with Astoria when she--and everyone else in the Great Hall--overheard a debate going on at the Gryfindor table. "They're slaves!" cried a shrill voice that she recognized as her brother's classmate, Hermione Granger's. "How can the wizard world live with itself by enslaving another race?" "But Hermione," said Neville, "the elves like to work. They aren't really slaves; they love to serve their families." "If they aren't slaves, how much do they get paid per hour?" asked Hermione. "Nothing, but that's because they like to work." "The worst punishment you can give a house elf is to free them," said a blonde girl whose name was Lavender something. "If they are free, they go insane." "Those are the same kinds of excuses people have used to justify slavery throughout history," said Hermione. "How do you know this is true? Have you ever met a free elf?" "No, because they don't want to be free, so they do their best to make their families happy," assured Neville. That evening, Ginny was going to study in the library, but she found an empty classroom instead. "Dobby?" she called. Nothing happened, so she decided Dobby must be busy, and she worked on her Astronomy essay. After a half hour or so, Dobby popped into the room. "I is sorry, Miss Ginny, but Dobby is busy serving dinner to his family." "That's alright, Dobby," assured Ginny. "Your family comes first. We can talk later if you like." "No, Dobby is free for now. What can I do for Ginny Weasey?" "I just have some questions for you, Dobby. Is it true that house elves like to be slaves to wizard families?" Dobby thought for awhile, wondering if he could answer this question without saying anything bad about his family. Deciding that he could, he said, "Like all intelligent creatures, house elves like to have a purpose in life. But we is not like being slaves." "Is it true that house elves go insane if they are freed by their masters?" Dobby furrowed his brow, and said, "No, that is a tale wizards tell to justify their enslavement of house elves." "How did house elves become slaves, anyway?" asked Ginny. That was a question no one had ever asked Dobby and one he longed to answer. "Many lifetimes of elves ago, you would call it about 600 years, elves were free and lived in the forests of Albion. Wizards made war on the elves, and evil wizards cast a spell enslaving the elves to their service. Now elves must follow their masters' orders unless they are freed." "Is there any way to end this spell?" Dobby looked around to make sure no one was listening. "All elves know how to end the spell," he confided in a low voice. "If ever wizard families free 500 elves, the enchantment will be broken and all elves will be free. We sometimes tell mean wizards that freeing us is punishment because we is hoping they free 500 of us. But," he added sorrowfully, "since that time, no more than a handful of elves have ever been free at the same time." "Thank you for trusting me with this secret, Dobby," said Ginny. "I don't know what I can do, but I will try and help the house elves win their freedom." "Miss Ginny Weasey is truly a great and merciful witch," said Dobby. He then stiffened slightly. "My family is calling now," he said. "Okay, I will call you later," said Ginny as Dobby popped away. By February, Ginny was so far ahead of her classmates in her studies that she had lots of free time. She accelerated her lessons with Tom slightly, sometimes sitting through ten to twelve weeks of his classes each week. After each week's worth of classes, she carefully conversed with Tom about his life and history. "I don't remember either of my parents," he said. "I grew up in an orphanage, where I was bullied by some of the older children. Occasionally, bad things happened to some of the bullies, but it was not until Professor Dumbledore came to tell me I had a place in Hogwarts that I understood that these were caused by my accidental magic." "I am sorry to hear you were bullied, Tom," Ginny wrote. "I grew up in a large family, so I can't imagine what it must have been like for you living in an orphanage. But I do know that sometimes my older brothers would do unkind things, especially to my youngest brother Ron. I often had to protect him from their bullying." "I wish I had had a friend like you when I was in the orphanage," Tom said. Ginny privately wondered: if he had had such a friend, would he have still turned into an evil wizard? * * * * * Spring was coming, and Harry's metalworking and hunting skills had made Torino's family the wealthiest in the troop. Whilst Harry happily hunted and gave the meat to any family that wanted it, his presence had upset the centaur economy. Most upset was Pollux, who seemed to regard Harry's method of hunting as an affront, not to mention a threat to his position as the troop's heir-apparent leader. "This wizard casts a shadow on the noble art of hunting," said Pollux one evening when Harry had brought home a deer but Pollux came empty handed. "He would make us weak and unable to hunt for ourselves. What will we do when he leaves us? Wizards have pretended to be our friends before, but always ended up betraying the centaurs." Harry looked ready to protest, but Torino motioned for him to remain quiet. Though relatively wealthy, as wizards might count, Torino knew that his family lacked high standing in the centaur troop. Fortunately, others who Harry had helped were willing to speak up. "Harry has shared his meat and his tools with everyone in the troop, and asked for only tokens in exchange," said one. "This winter was particularly harsh; without him many of us might not survive another one like that." Pollux bristled. "Do you doubt my ability to hunt?" "Peace, Pollux," said Castor. "No one is questioning your skills." At his sire's orders, Pollux was silent, but Harry didn't need to be a fortuneteller to see that Pollux wasn't entirely satisfied. * * * * * By the end of April, Ginny had sat through all seven years of Tom's schooling at Hogwarts. She was particularly fascinated with History of Magic; apparently, Binns had been a much better teacher when he was still alive. In the last year of that class, he compared magical and Muggle governments over several centuries, showing how well monarchy, democracy, feudalism, and other forms of government worked for individuals and society as a whole. Having run out of classes, Ginny then asked Tom to share with her the things he learned when he wasn't at Hogwarts. Confident that she was in his power, he showed her how, the summer before his seventh year, he found out about his mother's family and their connection to Slytherin. He went to Little Hangleton, where his mother's father was on his deathbed. As Ginny watched Tom's memory, Marvolo Gaunt, recognizing his grandson's magical power, gave him a ring that, he said, had once belonged to Salazar Slytherin. Tom left the Gaunt's shack and climbed the stairs to the Riddle's grand manor house, where he knocked on the door and asked the person who answered for a meeting with Tom Riddle, Sr. On being led into his father's office, the man was initially cordial, but when Tom introduced himself as Tom Riddle, Jr., the older man flew into a rage. "You are no son of mine," he yelled. "That woman tricked me. I never loved her; she was just after my money. If you think you are getting any of this estate, you are sorely mistaken. Now get out, before I throw you out!" When Tom tried to reason with him, Riddle Sr. pulled a gun and pointed it at him. "I am the lord of this estate. I can kill you and no one will ever question it." In self-defense, Tom Jr. pulled out his wand, but that frightened Tom Sr. who began firing. Tom Jr. cast a powerful shield that threw his father into a wall, where he collapsed and died. "That must have been terrible for you, Tom," wrote Ginny. "All you wanted was for him to at least acknowledge you as his son." Of course, Ginny knew that such acknowledgement would require that Riddle Sr. give part of his estate to Tom. "My father never loved me or my mother," Tom wrote sadly. Ginny was so sympathetic that he then showed her how he used the death of his father to turn Slytherin's ring into a Horcrux. "I didn't intend to profit by my father's death," he said later, "but it helped me achieve immortality." The next day, as the students were leaving Defense class, Professor Flamel said, "Miss Weasley, would you stay behind a moment please?" As soon as everyone was gone and the door closed, Flamel pointed his wand at her and said, "Stupify!" Ginny immediately put up a Protego shield. Flamel then said, "Petrificus Totalicus!" Ginny dodged and yelled, "Expelliarmus!" Her spell hit the professor, and his wand flew into her hand. "What is this all about, Professor?" "Excellent work, Miss Weasley," he said. "You are not only capable of first-year spells, you have mastered second-year spells as well. How would you like to be put in the third-year defense class next year?" "You mean this was just a test? I guess I would like that, very much." "I'll recommend to the headmaster that you be allowed to do that," said Flamel, taking his wand from her. "You may go." * * * * * "It's time for you to go on your vision quest, Harry," Torino announced one sunny morning. Nephele looked excited that her brother would undertake this rite of passage. "I have brewed for you our family visioning potion." "But centaur potions don't always work on me," Harry protested. "What if this one doesn't work, or worse, poisons me?" "It may or may not work, but it won't poison you," said Torino reassuringly. "I have measured a dosage appropriate for your size. Take it with you into a part of the forest that you call your own. Drink the potion and see what you see. You may see events that happened in the past, events that will happen in the future, or events that might have happened but won't because of some decision you made. Only you can interpret which is which." Harry walked a couple of miles to a meadow that he particularly enjoyed, and where he had hunted without interference from Pollux or the other hunting centaurs, and found a comfortable place to sit down. Drinking the potion, he waited a few minutes, then began to get dizzy. Laying down, he seemed to fall asleep. He had many visions. He saw himself fighting Quirrel, only it was inside a stone room that morphed into the moor where they had actually fought. He saw a red-haired girl, who looked like the one he had seen in the town on the Otter River, writing in a diary. He saw himself swimming in deep waters, fighting merpeople while he tried to rescue a blonde girl--who then morphed into a brown-haired boy who he was rescuing with the help of merpeople. He saw himself tied to a stone marker, whilst a man was cutting his arm with a sharp blade--which then morphed into another boy being cut by the blade, who he then untied from the marker. He saw himself holding a wand facing a snake-faced man, who then morphed into the red-haired girl while his wand morphed into a sword, and then the girl morphed back into the snake-faced man. The sun was setting when he finally woke up, and he groggily got to his feet to stagger back to the centaur village. Nephele met him just outside the encampment. "Shh," she said. "They are talking about you." "So you think this wizard is the Orion foretold to us in prophecy?" he heard Pollux ask as they quietly approached. Several centaurs made affirmative noises. "Then he must prove it. I challenge him to defeat the monsters that threaten our troop." This led to a new round of debate that left Harry puzzled. "Orion must fulfill his destiny," said one. "It is not for us to question how he does it." As the debate cooled down, Harry and the rest of Torino's family retreated to their shelter. "What was that all about?" asked Harry. "What is my destiny supposed to be?" "There is a prophecy that foretells of a hunter who will lead the centaurs to freedom," said Torino, as Ixion and Nephele nervously looked on. "According to the prophecy, we will know this hunter when he defeats our enemy who lives in the forests to the south. Many of the centaurs in the troop believe you are the hunter of this prophecy. I have not told you before because you are so young and I did not want to frighten you." "Do you think I should challenge this enemy?" "I cannot ask you to do that," said Torino. "You are a part of my family and under my protection. You would be welcome to stay here as long as you like even if you could not hunt or make the other things you produce." "What can you tell me of this enemy?" "The monsters are larger and more powerful than any centaur," said Torino ominously. "They are armed with predatory claws, jaws, and poison. They hunt in small numbers, so as a troop, with bows and arrows, we can defend ourselves, but one-on-one they will always defeat us. That is why we never venture into the southern forest." "Are they sentient?" "I don't know," admitted Torino. "Even if they are, they prefer killing to talking." * * * * * Tom continued to show Ginny his memories of learning many spells independently from Hogwarts. She recognized that the Ministry would consider some of them to be dark, as they could do nothing but harm to other people. Tonight, he showed her how Myrtle had been unintentionally killed by the Basalisk she knew as Bassie. "I felt terrible that the snake under my command had killed this poor girl," he said. Whilst he felt sorry about Myrtle's death, he took the opportunity created by it to make the Horcrux out of his diary. That was pretty much the end of his memories since the Tom Riddle of the diary knew nothing about what happened to the real Tom Riddle after the diary was created. At the end of her session, he asked her to bring the diary with her to the Chamber of Secrets the next night. She promised she would. That night, Ginny munched on a candy bar as she and Bassie headed to the Forbidden Forest for one of their regular hunting trips. Bassie asked what she was eating, and Ginny told her it was a candy bar that was "crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside." Later, Bassie found a nice, large Acromanula that she swallowed with relish. "I like these," she said. "They are crunchy on the outside, but soft on the inside." Ginny couldn't tell if the Basalisk was trying to be funny, but decided that snakes had a subtle sense of humor. Ginny put an Invisibility charm on Bassie before entering Hogwarts. After going upstairs to the second-floor, she met Draco Malfoy. "Weasley! It is nearly curfew. You should be going down to the Slytherin common room, not up here." "I'll make it to the common room before curfew, Malfoy. Besides, you aren't headed in that direction either." "Remember the Slytherin tradition," Draco said. "Boys do what they want, girls do what they're told." "That was the wrong thing to say, Malfoy." Ginny waved her hand, making Bassie visible again. Before Draco could do more than squeal in fright, he was petrified. "You boys never learn, do you," said Ginny as she and the snake proceeded to the girl's bathroom. * * * * * "Headmaster Flitwick, I've much enjoyed my year at Hogwarts," said Professor Flamel. "It sounds like you don't plan to stay another year," said Flitwick sadly. "No, I've searched through your library, but I haven't found any information that would help me track down who fought in the battle near my home in Devon. Being here has allowed me to make contact with wizards and witches throughout the realm, but no one else has reported any dark wizard activity. If I am to find the answers, they won't be here." "Everyone thinks you have done an excellent job teaching, and I don't look forward to trying to replace you," said Flitwick. "But I am used to it; if there was a curse on the job, as rumor has it, it hasn't been lifted yet." * * * * * The next day, after classes, when most people were in the Great Hall eating dinner, Ginny took the diary down to the Chamber. "What would you like me to do now, Tom?" she wrote in it. At his direction, she pulled out her wand and touched it to the diary, saying, "Homenum Restorem." At once, a ghostly image of the eighteen-year-old Tom Riddle appeared. "My, aren't you handsome, Tom," said Ginny with a smile. "The girls must have been all over you at Hogwarts. Funny, you never showed me any dates you went on. Were you afraid I would be jealous?" "I lost interest in girls after creating my first Horcrux," Tom said. "That's a shame, Tom," said Ginny. "Does that mean you won't want to go with me on the next Hogsmeade weekend?" Tom looked at her with a disgust that could have been because she was six years younger than him. But she guessed it was something more: From the look on his face, Ginny realized that, in seeking to live forever through Horcruxes, Tom lost the interest in and capability of having children of his own. "I am afraid there won't be any more Hogsmeade weekends for you," said Tom grimly. "I need your body and soul to restore my body." "I don't think so, Tom," said Ginny casually. "You've been a very nice companion and teacher, but I'm not giving you my body." "You don't really have a choice," said Tom, who then spoke in Parseltongue to Slytherin's statue. The statue moved and Bassie slithered out. "Petrify her," said Tom in Parseltongue. Instead, the snake moved by Ginny's side and faced Tom, hissing quietly. "What, you thought she would be loyal to you?" asked Ginny. "You weren't even nice to her when you met her 50 years ago. I've been taking her hunting every month." Indeed, the lump formed by the Acromantula Bassie had eaten the night before was still visible on her body. "What makes you think you have the power to defy me, little girl?" cried Tom. "Do you know who I am?" "You mean your little acronym? 'I am Lord Voldemort'?" said Ginny with a roll of her eyes. "Yes, I know about that. So what? The real Voldemort was defeated by a toddler nearly twelve years ago. What makes you think I would have a hard time defeating a mere memory of him?" "I am the most powerful wizard in the world," declared the spirit. "Even without a body or a wand, I can defeat you," he said and cast a wandless cutting curse that struck Ginny's arm. She jumped in pain, then looked at him in defiance. "I could have killed you, but I need your body and soul," he said. "You will submit to me." Ginny responded by casting a powerful shield. "Your forget, Tom: I know everything you know. In a duel I could easily defeat you." "You've released me from the diary," said Tom firmly. "If I can't have your body, I'll have someone else's. I bet there are some nice half-bloods petrified in the hospital wing!" He turned as if to go. "No, Tom," said Ginny. "It is time for you to return to the diary." She pointed at it meaningfully. "Who do you think you are that you think you can force me back?" he challenged. She pulled out the sword of Slytherin. "Unlike you, I am the true heir of Slytherin," said Ginny. "I wonder what would happen to the diary if I pierced it with this sword." "Ha! I made that diary to be impervious to all metals, even goblin metal," said Tom triumphantly. "You can't hurt me." "Yes, but--as I learned in one of your classes--even the most magical objects are vulnerable to Basalisk venom. Bassie, would you bite the diary for me?" "No!" shouted Tom. "I --I'll get back in. But," he added pathetically, "will you keep writing to me?" Ginny smiled. "Of course, Tom. I am sure we have many more memories we can share." "The incantation to put me back in is 'Homenum Protectem,'" said Tom reluctantly. When Ginny touched the diary with her wand and muttered the words, Tom's image vanished into the book. She hastily healed her bleeding arm, noting that the injury would leave a scar in the shape of a snake. When Ginny entered the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning, her head of house approached her. "The headmaster asked me to escort you to his office," he said. On entering the office, she noticed that Draco's father, who she recognized from their encounter in Flourish & Blotts, was in the office glaring at her. Several more people were there, evidently the parents of some of the other students who had been petrified. "Miss Weasley," said Headmaster Flitwick. "We've managed to unpetrify the students who were petrified this year. They aren't sure how they were petrified, but the last thing they all seem to remember was talking to you." "How would I manage to petrify so many students?" asked Ginny, "especially considering that several of them were years ahead of me in school." "We're not saying you did it," said Flitwick, "we just want to know if you can help us find out what happened. If more students are petrified, we may have to close the school." "I am afraid I can't help you," said Ginny. "I do remember talking to each of the students who were petrified. They were all very rude, telling me that, under Slytherin house tradition, I had to do things that I didn't want to do. If rudeness leads to petrification," she said glancing at Snape, "then you should teach your students some manners." The potions professor bristled, but did not say anything. Flitwick watched the interaction between Snape and his student in puzzlement. Then, with a glance at Malfoy, he said, "Very well, Miss Weasley. You may go." When Ginny emerged into the deserted corridor outside of the headmaster's office, she discovered someone had followed her down the stairs. "Miss Weasley," drawled the man with long blond hair. "How did you get sorted into Slytherin, anyway? You don't seem to have the intelligence for it." "You'd be surprised, Lucius," she said. He did look surprised that she familiarly called him by his first name. But he leaned over and whispered, "I know it was you who petrified my son and the other students. When I get the proof, I'll have you thrown out of here." "I know it was you who put this diary in my cauldron last August," said Ginny. "This diary was intended to kill me and bring back the Dark Lord. But I don't need proof: I think I'll just declare a blood feud against the Malfoy family right now." "A blood feud between the Weasleys and the Malfoys?" Malfoy laughed. "There may be a lot of you Weasleys, but your power is pathetic; we would wipe you out in less than a day. Besides, little girl, only the head of a family may declare a blood feud." "I meant a blood feud between the Slytherins and the Malfoys," she said, whipping out the sword and pointing it at his chest. "Are you ready to defend yourself against the true heir of Slytherin?" Malfoy made to pull his wand from his cane, but she merely lowered the sword and pressed its point against his crotch. Her voice deepened into a sibilant whisper. "If you finish pulling that wand out, Lucius, then you and your son will truly be the last of the Malfoys." Her eyes flared red, freezing him in place as he remembered the last time he had heard a voice that sounded like that. "I will refrain from declaring a blood feud," she continued, "on one condition." "What is your condition, my Lady," he said nervously. "Dobby!" she cried. The little elf appeared. "Ginny Weasey calls," started Dobby, but when he saw Malfoy he shrank in terror. "I want you to free all your house elves," said Ginny. "Then offer to pay them to work for you. I don't know if they will stay with you, but if you want to continue receiving their services, you must pay them whatever they consider is fair. Dobby, however, stays with me." "Free my house elves?" said Malfoy in a moment of rage. "They'll go insane! What makes you think I'll pay insane elves to work in my home?" His rage disappeared when she pressed the sword against his robes, cutting them slightly. "If your elves go insane, then you can buy more, free them, and offer to pay them as well. But if I ever hear of you keeping house elves as slaves again, I will declare this blood feud. As powerful as the Malfoys and your allies are, I don't think you can stand up to the power of the Slytherins and my allies." Malfoy wasn't sure who the allies of the Slytherins, who as far as he knew had died out as a family generations ago, might be. But until he knew, he decided caution was the better part of valor. Straightening up to his full height, he said, "It will be as you say, my Lady." He took his glove off and handed it to Dobby. "Dobby, you are free. I will go now to free my other house elves." She nodded and he strode off. Dobby's eyes opened wide and he ran over and gave Ginny a hug. "I is free! Ginny Weasey is freed me!" he cried. Then he sobered up. "Do you want me to bond myself to your service?" he asked, trembling. "No, Dobby. We need to free 500 elves so the whole elf race can be free. How many elves does Malfoy own?" "Five," said Dobby. "Well, four now that he has freed me." "Then that's five down and 495 to go," said Ginny. "Now we need to figure out a fair wage for Malfoy to pay his freed elves." They argued for a while, with Ginny starting at a Galleon a day and Dobby at a Galleon a month, but they finally settled on a Galleon a week. With that, Dobby popped away to make certain that Lucius freed his other elves and to tell them how much they should ask for when they were freed. As Ginny headed to her common room, she was overtaken by Professor Snape, who had come downstairs from the headmaster's office too late to witness her confrontation with Malfoy. "Miss Weasley," he said, "what did you mean when you talked about Slytherin house traditions?" "Several Slytherin boys told me that, in Slytherin, the boys do what they want and the girls do what they're told. They seemed to think that this tradition entitled them to take advantage of any Slytherin girl they wanted." Snape thought back to when he was a student at Hogwarts. He remembered this tradition, which he himself had rarely made use of, since he was in love with a girl from another house, but which he never personally questioned. "It seems to me that this tradition is dying fast," he said, "thanks to a certain bat-bogey hex that most of the girls in Slytherin appear to have somehow learned." "Yes, I think so too," said Ginny with a slight smile. They walked together quietly for a few moments. As they approached the door to the common room, he said, "Please let the girls in Slytherin know that they may continue to use the bat bogey hex to change this tradition. However, I don't want to see any more students petrified. Do I make myself clear?" "Yes, professor, absolutely clear," said Ginny. |
| Reviews 160 |
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